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Family ties, incentives and development: A model of coerced altruism

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Abstract

We analyze the effects of family ties on the incentives for production of effort, where family ties are defined as a mixture of true and coerced altruism between family members. We model families as pairs of siblings. Each sibling exerts effort in order to obtain output under uncertainty. A social norm dictates that a sibling with a high output must share a specified amount of this output with his sibling, if the latter is output is low. Siblings may be truly altruistic towards each other, but not to a larger degree than dictated by the social norm. We compare such informal family insurance with actuarially fair formal insurance.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingela Alger & Jörgen W. Weibull, 2007. "Family ties, incentives and development: A model of coerced altruism," Carleton Economic Papers 07-10, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:car:carecp:07-10
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    File URL: http://www1.carleton.ca/economics/research/working-papers/carleton-economic-papers-cep-2001-2010/
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    Cited by:

    1. Alger, Ingela & Weibull, Jörgen, 2007. "The Fetters of the Sib: Weber Meets Darwin," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 682, Stockholm School of Economics.
    2. Chi Huu Nguyen & Christophe J. Nordman, 2018. "Household Entrepreneurship and Social Networks: Panel Data Evidence from Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(4), pages 594-618, April.
    3. Agnès Festré, 2010. "Incentives And Social Norms: A Motivation‐Based Economic Analysis Of Social Norms," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 511-538, July.
    4. Grimm, Michael & Hartwig, Renate & Lay, Jann, 2017. "Does forced solidarity hamper investment in small and micro enterprises?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 827-846.
    5. Victorien Barbet & Renaud Bourlès & Juliette Rouchier, 2020. "Informal risk-sharing cooperatives: the effect of learning and other-regarding preferences," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 451-478, April.
    6. Castañeda Dower, Paul & Gerber, Theodore P. & Weber, Shlomo, 2022. "Firms, kinship networks, and economic growth in the Kyrgyz Republic," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 997-1018.
    7. Renaud Bourlès & Yann Bramoullé & Eduardo Perez‐Richet, 2017. "Altruism in Networks," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 675-689, March.
    8. Ingela Alger & Jörgen W. Weibull, 2010. "Kinship, Incentives, and Evolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1725-1758, September.
    9. Hua Chen & Yugang Ding & Ruixian Li & ShanShan Mou, 2023. "Family ties and commercial health insurance consumption in China," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 48(1), pages 247-265, January.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14463 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. World Bank Group, 2015. "Tanzania Mainland Poverty Assessment," World Bank Publications - Reports 22021, The World Bank Group.
    12. Ingela Alger & Jörgen W. Weibul, 2007. "Kinship, Incentives and Evolution – revised version: Kinship, Incentives, and Evolution," Carleton Economic Papers 07-13, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised 17 Sep 2010.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation

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